Here's what hosed me. When you buy Vandersteens they come with a factory representative (read dealer) to adjust them for free. But if you're out of the dealer area you have to cover travel costs. That cost me $200-plus in air-fare, plus lunch 'cuz I'm a nice guy. Plus the 2x 180-mile round trip to the Spokane airport and back. He spent all of 10 minutes with a Radium Shack docimeter to tweak the speakers at a place I don't sit and listen at. Then he spent an hour or two trying to sell me an $8k pair of AudioQuest speaker cables which made absolutely no difference over my Blue Jeans. Could not shovel him back to the airport fast enough. I had been had.Yes at these power levels we shouldn't be using lamp-cord anymore, especially for long runs (8 feet and above) but the need to put an unconnected battery in line with the insulator borders on the absurd. Belden-grade wire is good enough for me!

just my humble personal opinion and experience, especially the experience I gained in recording studios.....have not been able to hear any difference between (note studio experience) those 'you beaut' hi ho XYZ plated and insulated RCA or power cables and the run of mill, been around for decades, RCA and power cables.Yes, for longer runs one needs beefier cables of somewhat higher quality, but that's it.A lot is wishful thinking when it comes to those ridiculous 'rip off' priced cables, or he or she wants so much to hear a difference since they spent oodles of $....they believe they hear a difference!You're so much better off spending your $ on good quality tubes, amps/preamps and speakers!I just shake my head and smile when I hear and read all those claims!

MontanaWay wrote:just my humble personal opinion and experience, especially the experience I gained in recording studios.....have not been able to hear any difference between (note studio experience) those 'you beaut' hi ho XYZ plated and insulated RCA or power cables and the run of mill, been around for decades, RCA and power cables.Yes, for longer runs one needs beefier cables of somewhat higher quality, but that's it.A lot is wishful thinking when it comes to those ridiculous 'rip off' priced cables, or he or she wants so much to hear a difference since they spent oodles of $....they believe they hear a difference!You're so much better off spending your $ on good quality tubes, amps/preamps and speakers!I just shake my head and smile when I hear and read all those claims!

Amen to that. There's a story (wish I could find the link but too lazy) about a very high-end speaker company displaying at one of the big stereo shows. Upon un-packing, they discovered they'd left their cables behind. They promptly dashed over to Ace Hardware and picked up a couple of runs of outdoor-grade drop cords and hooked things up. Everybody was hugely impressed with the sound and demanded to know who made those orange high-grade speaker cables.

I can hear differences with speaker cable, interconnects, and power cords. The wires connecting a DAC are especially important, often more significant than the DAC itself!! Frustrated with the sound I was getting out of my CD player via coax to an Emotiva XDA-2, I replaced the true 75 ohm coax with a homebrew twisted pair of Kimber TCSS: the improvement was startling. Vastly improved clarity and sound-staging, better bass and extended highs.

You don't need to spend big bucks; just an open mind and some creativity. I find it astonishing that someone could spend upwards of $12K on new speakers and amps, and shortchange the connecting wires, mainly because he had a bad experience with a dealer rep.

Many people feel that tubes amps are inferior because they exhibit higher amounts of measured distortion.I have a $100 Sherwood receiver that is rated at 100 wpc 20-20K at .05% distortion. Compare that with my VTA-70 rated at 35 wpc at .5%, 10 times worse. So why does the Latino amp sound so much better. I have been told: "Gregg, you must like distortion."

Some months ago I tried the Belden in-wall speaker cable that is touted as all you really need. It sounded OK. It sounded just like what it is: easy to pull, inexpensive in-wall cable for installers. But there are better choices, including Kimber 8VS or 8TC, as well as Paul Speltz Anti-Cable.

Nobody needs an expensive hi-fi system; most folks are content with a smartphone and earbuds. If you can't hear an improvement with speaker cable, tubes, DACs or anything else, then you shouldn't buy them and move on something else to waste your money. Don't disparage those of us who find differences and are willing to pay for it.

Gregg R. wrote:I can hear differences with speaker cable, interconnects, and power cords. The wires connecting a DAC are especially important, often more significant than the DAC itself!! Frustrated with the sound I was getting out of my CD player via coax to an Emotiva XDA-2, I replaced the true 75 ohm coax with a homebrew twisted pair of Kimber TCSS: the improvement was startling. Vastly improved clarity and sound-staging, better bass and extended highs.

You don't need to spend big bucks; just an open mind and some creativity. I find it astonishing that someone could spend upwards of $12K on new speakers and amps, and shortchange the connecting wires, mainly because he had a bad experience with a dealer rep.

Many people feel that tubes amps are inferior because they exhibit higher amounts of measured distortion.I have a $100 Sherwood receiver that is rated at 100 wpc 20-20K at .05% distortion. Compare that with my VTA-70 rated at 35 wpc at .5%, 10 times worse. So why does the Latino amp sound so much better. I have been told: "Gregg, you must like distortion."

Some months ago I tried the Belden in-wall speaker cable that is touted as all you really need. It sounded OK. It sounded just like what it is: easy to pull, inexpensive in-wall cable for installers. But there are better choices, including Kimber 8VS or 8TC, as well as Paul Speltz Anti-Cable.

Nobody needs an expensive hi-fi system; most folks are content with a smartphone and earbuds. If you can't hear an improvement with speaker cable, tubes, DACs or anything else, then you shouldn't buy them and move on something else to waste your money. Don't disparage those of us who find differences and are willing to pay for it.

Gregg, I'm with you up to about 99 percent. I've spent quite a bit of money experimenting with speaker cabling over the years; it wasn't the greedy dealer who soured me on going over-budget on interconnects. I've used silver, twisted and weaved copper, etc., etc, all sold by the inch, and you can in certain configurations hear differences. There's another variable or two out there. For example, my late great Vandersteen 5ACs showed a marked improvement bi-wired when I went from 4-conductor Canares to discrete pairs of 2-conductor wires; opened up the sound stage remarkably. I can't explain that electrically, I just know I heard it. Haven't tried any fancy power cords. Unless you run same all the way up to the transformer on the pole, you're still just hooking up to Romex...Distortion is another gimmick. Maybe it's because tubes distort in a more pleasant way than sand devices, or at different frequencies. To each his own.Cheerio,d

Gregg R. wrote:Many people feel that tubes amps are inferior because they exhibit higher amounts of measured distortion.I have a $100 Sherwood receiver that is rated at 100 wpc 20-20K at .05% distortion. Compare that with my VTA-70 rated at 35 wpc at .5%, 10 times worse. So why does the Latino amp sound so much better. I have been told: "Gregg, you must like distortion."

Some people buy audio gear for their "specs" .. Tube gear sometimes do not have the best specs but can sound better than solid state gear even with higher measured distortion. Specs don't usually specify such things as phase linearity which has a lot to do with how an amp reproduces the depth and width of the soundstage and how some amps (with good speakers and other associated gear) can give you almost pinpoint location of vocalists and instruments within the soundstage. Some solid state amps must have the volume UP in order to "sound good" while tube amps tend to sound good at virtually any volume level.

As to speaker cables and interconnects ... I agree with most of what has been said .. At times I have swapped out either a speaker cable or an interconnect and heard NO change in the sound of an amp. At other times I have heard some differences and price is no guarantee of better sound. I once swapped out some very expensive (bought second hand) Analysis Plus bi-wire speaker cables with some Signal Cable Ultra cables. The Analysis Plus speaker cables were just a little too bright in this system. The Signal Cable speaker cables were better balanced from top to bottom ..

Isn't that what capacitors in the power supply are for?Tube filaments will feel voltage fluctuations and all those other and invisible fluctuations, but if the amp is designed and built properly I declare horse-feathers.

Gregg R. wrote:Many people feel that tubes amps are inferior because they exhibit higher amounts of measured distortion.I have a $100 Sherwood receiver that is rated at 100 wpc 20-20K at .05% distortion. Compare that with my VTA-70 rated at 35 wpc at .5%, 10 times worse. So why does the Latino amp sound so much better. I have been told: "Gregg, you must like distortion."

Some people buy audio gear for their "specs" .. Tube gear sometimes do not have the best specs but can sound better than solid state gear even with higher measured distortion. Specs don't usually specify such things as phase linearity which has a lot to do with how an amp reproduces the depth and width of the soundstage and how some amps (with good speakers and other associated gear) can give you almost pinpoint location of vocalists and instruments within the soundstage. Some solid state amps must have the volume UP in order to "sound good" while tube amps tend to sound good at virtually any volume level.

As to speaker cables and interconnects ... I agree with most of what has been said .. At times I have swapped out either a speaker cable or an interconnect and heard NO change in the sound of an amp. At other times I have heard some differences and price is no guarantee of better sound. I once swapped out some very expensive (bought second hand) Analysis Plus bi-wire speaker cables with some Signal Cable Ultra cables. The Analysis Plus speaker cables were just a little too bright in this system. The Signal Cable speaker cables were better balanced from top to bottom ..

I owned Vandersteen speakers in the late 1980s. First the 1B, which I loved, and then the 2C, which I never really liked. The 2Cs were vastly improved with bi-wiring with Kimber 4TC. Richard Vandersteen's later models are basically bloated versions of the 2C. The 2Cs only sounded open and lively when cranked up to insane volumes.

For a long time I had a hard time wrapping my brain around the need for special power cords. I'm 50 miles from the power plant. Why should the last six feet make any difference? I was unhappy with the sound of an Emotiva DAC. I made up a special power cable from Kimble 4TC. The DAC showed marked improvement. Since that time I have replaced all the generic IEC wires with upgraded wire, usually from old speaker cable. I do not use a ground unless there is a hum problem. The biggest change is front-end gear, esp. DACs. I currently use a Grace Design M920 DAC/Pre.

Changing wires, like tube-rolling, is hit and miss. Sometimes its better, sometimes worse, sometimes just different. I'm currently using Speltz Anti-cables speaker wire in his hot-rod version; the sound is better in most cases. At least its affordable, and returnable within 30 days! "Bach on the Lute" is much improved.

Good luck with your Tyler Acoutics towers and Holger's custom amps. You might consider linking them with Kimber 8TC or Speltz wire in about six months when everything is fully broken in.

I owned Vandersteen speakers in the late 1980s. First the 1B, which I loved, and then the 2C, which I never really liked. The 2Cs were vastly improved with bi-wiring with Kimber 4TC. Richard Vandersteen's later models are basically bloated versions of the 2C. The 2Cs only sounded open and lively when cranked up to insane volumes.

For a long time I had a hard time wrapping my brain around the need for special power cords. I'm 50 miles from the power plant. Why should the last six feet make any difference? I was unhappy with the sound of an Emotiva DAC. I made up a special power cable from Kimble 4TC. The DAC showed marked improvement. Since that time I have replaced all the generic IEC wires with upgraded wire, usually from old speaker cable. I do not use a ground unless there is a hum problem. The biggest change is front-end gear, esp. DACs. I currently use a Grace Design M920 DAC/Pre.

Changing wires, like tube-rolling, is hit and miss. Sometimes its better, sometimes worse, sometimes just different. I'm currently using Speltz Anti-cables speaker wire in his hot-rod version; the sound is better in most cases. At least its affordable, and returnable within 30 days! "Bach on the Lute" is much improved.

Good luck with your Tyler Acoutics towers and Holger's custom amps. You might consider linking them with Kimber 8TC or Speltz wire in about six months when everything is fully broken in.

Hi, Gregg et. al, I've found that tube-rolling or cable-swapping done once a week is beyond silly. It takes at least a month or two (or longer) to "learn" how your system sounds in a given configuration; then when a component change is made you are able to hear, or not hear, a difference.The Big Boppers are fairly well run-in. Holger built them up from my original M-125s, but he upgraded the driver boards and several of the caps, so in a sense they're brand-new second-hand. My Troy-built SP-14 is also new, stocked with NOS RCAs. Both sound splendid as-is and I am sure they will get even better over time.Speakers also need break-in time. I thought the stock tweeters in the Tylers were a bit dull, asked Ty about it, and he said about the only upgrade were the Seas Millenniums. They were back-ordered at Madisound and by the time they finally got here the standard Seas tweets had done enough push-ups that they sounded just fine. (Who knew a tweeter needed burn-in time?).At any rate, newly modified amps, newly built preamp, and new speakers, all still breaking themselves in. Too many variables in that equation for now. So yes, it'll be another 6 months or so before I mess with cabling. Sounds like a good winter project!

If you aren't thrilled with Monoprice cables, you might try mediabridge cables. www.mediabridgeproducts.com. Amazon sells them as well. I have purchased a pair of terminated speaker cables and a pair of subwoofer cables from them and the quality is superb.